How to make a kissing ball

A couple days ago I saw a Christmas Kissing Ball at my friend Suzanne’s house. It kept catching my eye. It looked…. traditional, fun, bright, and dare I say, romantic! It just made me plain old happy! I like feeling happy! So I asked her about it, and to my delight she told me she made it! And that’s not all, she would tell me how I could make one too! Yippee!!! I couldn’t help but wonder how many Christmas’ her kissing ball had lit up? How many people have kissed under it? How many family members had gazed upon it while dreaming about their new years resolutions? (nostalgia!)

Kissing Ball

Bottom line was, I had to make one. I love traditions and I was ready to start a new one… The Christmas Kissing Ball.

Good news is – You can start one too… Here’s what you need:

32 – 4.5 oz cone cups

1 set of mini Christmas lights (35-50 light strand) clear or colored

1.5 yard 1″ wide ribbon

32 Christmas ball ornaments 2.5″ – 3″

stapler

glue gun and extra glue sticks

15 feet garland (nothing too poofy)

Start by counting out 9 cups and staple them together. Staple them 1″ down inside cup (mine shown were only .5″ which wasn’t really enough)

Next place six cups on top of your set of 9 and staple in place.

You have now completed 1/2 the ball. Make another half identical to this half. Fold ribbon in half and lay across the bottom side of one of the halves and staple on securely.

Next connect your two halves with staples and it’s time to start stringing your lights. Take the end of your light string without the plug and start weaving the light string between the cones beginning at the bottom of your ball where the two ribbon tails are. Depending on the number of lights in your string you may need to have two lights poking out in the same spot – just work them in as evenly as possible. Use your stapler to close cup gaps up as needed and to keep cords from poking out. Finish at the top of your ball where the ribbon loop is.

Next get your glue gun ready and start gluing your ornament balls into the cups. Put a thin ‘bead’ of glue around top edge of each cup and place your ornament inside. Depending on the size of your cup and ornaments – they will sit up higher or deeper into the cup.

When you get to the end, you might have to really snuggle the last couple ornaments in. I had ornaments of varying sizes so I got to cheat a little here. If your ornaments are smaller, you may have more wiggle room between them – no worries – it will all fill in nicely when you add your garland. You can also embellish and fill in with miniature ornaments. There are no rules here!

When you are done with your ornaments it’s time for the last step! Start at the top or bottom and weave your way around with the garland – applying glue from your glue gun here and there to keep it secure.

Now… Light it Up! And test it with a KISS of course! Magic.

Here are a couple variations that my kids made for Christmas gifts…

This first one is for a girls room – pink and silver, very cute…

And another one with traditional Christmas colors…

SO SO SO FUN!

I think these would be great in silver to make for weddings! The sky is the limit…